We all hear of friends having a ‘break from Facebook’, after spending too much time following their so-called friends’ glorified lives. But what about social media for business? Can you do too much?

Social media for business or personal can be very addictive.

If any of you have watched Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror series you’ll remember the episode “Nosedive” where an augmented reality social-media platform let users rate their online and offline transactions and encounters by giving them a number of stars. Whether it’s a cup of coffee or buying some clothes.

That score determines how far up the social scale they can climb in terms of what services that can access and who employs them.

Will we eventually end up in a World like that? It’s a good question and I think for many people the amount of likes (aka stars in Nosedive), determines what mood they are in.

And in the business world’s social media, it isn’t that different.

Marketers measure their campaigns in terms of engagement; likes, Retweets, shares, comments – the only difference is it doesn’t ruin their day if a post does not have as much engagement as they thought. They simply measure, refine and try another approach.

Having a structured plan of content including blogs and time spent on social media in terms of community management is very important.

If you’re a small business owner and you are constantly on twitter for example, are you actually doing any work with your customers? Or are you hooked and wasting your time on LinkedIn?

Social media like LinkedIn can be a great tool for businesses, but not used properly can result in disastrous consequences for your brand reputation.

And remember, there are huge benefits to using social media for business, some of the main ones are:

Raising brand awareness and promoting company culture.

Increasing awareness of your products and services.

Improving engagement with individuals who might not take your call or approached you at an event.

Driving traffic to your website.

Increasing sales.

All done in moderation and with a good plan is the key to success and make sure you and your team stick to the plan, whatever it takes.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on social media for business and experiences you have had.